


To Guide us Home

by letsgooutintherain



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Don't copy to another site, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24131314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsgooutintherain/pseuds/letsgooutintherain
Summary: Mustang has the worst luck with being a Sentinel. Or maybe that's because he's a bit of an idiot. Either way Ed is not trained for this. The realization that he actually likes Mustang doesn't help the situation either.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang, Mei Chan | May Chang/Alphonse Elric
Comments: 42
Kudos: 296
Collections: RoyEd month





	1. Chapter 1

Ed pressed his back against the wall, took a deep breath then chanced a glance around the corner. Nothing. But the asshole had to be here somewhere. Had to. Because if he wasn't he had gotten away and would probably kill more people. With every second they wasted checking another warehouse, crate or alley, chances were he really would get away. They'd already taken too long. 

Ed took one last look around and then darted for the next cover. Why, why was it that the most deranged alchemists tended to be competent too? As if looking out for the alchemy wasn't enough, the guy was also a deft hand with a gun, as he'd proven when he had shot Al's helmet clear off. For that alone Ed would get that bastard.

He saw movement at the other end of an alley between warehouses and tensed, but it was only Havoc, peering around the corner. He caught Ed's gaze, gave a nod and then chose another alley to search.

And then, finally: "I have eyes on him, warehouse 23d," Mustang said, voice more clipped than usual, even through the crackling of the radio.

Ed tried to picture the layout of this stupid complex, whirled around and started running.

"Give me your position, Sir." Hawkeye's voice, if possible, sounded even more clipped, but Mustang didn't answer. 

Ed sprinted around a corner, realized he'd hit a dead end and took the other direction with a silent curse. By the time he got closer he could already hear shots ringing out. 

And then his radio once again crackled to life. "Ed!" Al's voice, filled with fear. Ed saw red, forcing his legs to move even faster, get to his brother, but before he even reached the warehouse, Al's giant armor appeared from a side alley.

"Ed, you've got help, you can help, right?" Al said, and Ed followed him behind a set of crates, heartbeat still thundering, not yet convinced that it was fine, Al was fine. He forced himself to calm down, to slow his breath.

And then his gaze fell on what Al was dragging him to.

Who Al was dragging him to. 

Mustang.

Mustang slumped on the ground, staring sightlessly, head cocked as if he was listening and his left sleeve rolled up. Ed could still see where the sense-lock cuff had left small indents in his arm, but it wasn't there now. 

Ed's heart started beating wildly in his chest as the full situation sank in. Mustang had known just as well as him that they needed to find the guy. The tracking team had still been fifteen minutes out, so he had decided to do it himself. And without a Guide there to anchor him he had zoned. That he had held on long enough to actually find their target was a miracle.

Ed swallowed. He hadn't even know Mustang was a Sentinel. For half a second he wondered if one of their teammates was a Guide. Mustang wouldn't be stupid enough to try this without any backup plan, would he?

But if he had a guide he wouldn't have a sense-lock cuff and he would have called that person for backup instead of refusing to answer where exactly he was. Which was probably why Hawkeye had asked in the first place. Fuck.

"Al, find his cuff," Ed said, taking another deep breath. Fuck.

"But you can help him, right?"

"I don't know, okay!" Ed snapped, then shook his head. "Sorry." Fuck. "I'll try."

He hadn't done this in years and he had never been a match for a real Guide to begin with, but he would try anyway. Al said zones were hell and it would take too long to get someone else here. 

Ed knelt down, grimaced at the damp dirt under his knees. 

All right. A zone, probably sound, maybe sight or smell too, but sound was a pretty safe bet. Which wasn't fun, because even without heightened senses Ed could hear the shots ringing out from the next warehouse, the clanking of Al's armour, his and Mustang's breathing. He didn't even want to know what else was currently hammering against Mustang's senses.

He closed his eyes and tried to even his breath, then startled when Al dropped the sense-lock cuff in his hand.

"Found it."

Good. One less problem. It would do nothing about the zone, but it would prevent another if Ed actually managed to get his senses to a manageable level.

"Go help the others, yeah?"

Al just nodded and Ed turned back to Mustang, who hadn't reacted to any of this. 

Ed bit his lip. He could do this. Probably. Maybe. Oh, fuck it.

He closed his eyes again, trying to block everything out, so he could find Sasha, his spirit animal. It took an eternity in which Ed had to remind himself not to get frustrated, to be calm, but finally he felt that faint prickling so similar to the feeling of alchemy running through him, but at the same time so very different. Alchemy was something concrete and reliable, always there when he called on it. This was elusive like water or air, running through his fingers if he tried to grab a hold. 

And then the badger manifested, barely more than wisps of smoke, but Ed breathed in relief anyway. He tried to nudge the energy into his voice, to hold on to it there, hoping against hope that it wouldn't slip away again and then opened his eyes.

"Mustang, listen to me. I want you to close your eyes and find the sound of your heartbeat. Concentrate on it. Just your heartbeat. Let it fill your world."

He watched as Mustang's eyes slipped shut, but otherwise there was no indication that what he was doing had any effect at all. There wouldn't be, but it was still disconcerting. If everything went right his voice would reach Mustang not through his senses but slip right past that into his consciousness, not taxing his already overloaded system.

"Block everything else out. And when your heartbeat is all you can hear, you need to dial it down slowly, very slowly until you can barely hear it at all."

Ed had never heard the sound of his own heartbeat, but Al had said it was one of the constants a Sentinel always heard, a background hum even when the senses were all dialled down. Of course these days Al didn't have a heartbeat to hear, or ears to hear anything with at all. Ed let the thought go, before it could cost him his concentration.

There was no difference in Mustang. All right then. Probably sight next. 

"Now hold that level for the noise and concentrate on your sight. I know the darkness behind your eyelids isn't just black, but I want you to find the darkest point, concentrate on that, let it fill your vision and then dial that down too. I can keep watch now, so you can let the world become darker."

A shout in the distance and another volley of shots tore Ed from his concentration and just like that Sasha was gone. Ed suppressed a curse, but then Mustang stirred and Ed didn't hesitate and clipped the cuff back around Mustang's wrist, locking his senses at whatever level he had reached. 

Another shout, surprise, fear. That was Al! Ed didn't hesitated whirled away from Mustang and towards the warehouse. 

Mustang would have to wait until Al was safe.

Ed waded into the chaos and found Breda with a bullet wound through his leg, still trying to offer cover fire, found Havoc unconscious dragged behind another crate and Hawkeye ducking for cover, while trying to get a good shot of her own in. He found Al crouched behind yet another crate, having lost an arm, but still trying to counter the asshole's alchemy with old-fashioned chalk drawn circles.

It took him only a few seconds to decide fuck it, catapulting himself over a crate and right onto the asshole, forcing him into close combat. Of course the guy was annoyingly good even at that, but after endless seconds of traded blows, suddenly fire flared, beautifully precise flames, forcing the asshole away from him, burning his circles to cinders before he could attack again, leaving room for Ed to knock him out with a well placed automail fist to the head.

Ed slowly turned around to see Mustang standing in the open warehouse door. And Hawkeye, Hawkeye must have known what kind of stupid risk Mustang had taken, because she was staring at him with a disbelieving surprise that slowly melted into relief. 

Mustang still looked white as a wall, but he was upright and with it enough to use his alchemy with all the devastating precision Ed expected from him. It wasn't perfect though. It took only seconds for Ed to realized that Mustang had dialed his hearing too far down and his sight not far enough, if the way he squinted at the light and asked Hawkeye to repeat herself twice was anything to go by, but he was walking and talking and that was really all that mattered.

It was only later, when no questions came, that he realized Mustang probably hadn't been with it enough to realize who, if anyone, had helped him.

Ed didn't intend to clear things up.


	2. Chapter 2

Ed woke with a headache, his hands tied to the chair behind him, each on one side, making it impossible to get them together for a clap and tight enough that even yanking with full automail strength didn't make them budge. More worryingly, he wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up here, beyond a vague recollection of being in the field with Mustang. 

Behind him he heard a groan and he craned his neck around as far as he could until he caught a glance of blue uniform and silky black hair, tied to another chair. 

"Mustang?"

"Fullmetal?" Mustang's voice replied. 

Ed closed his eyes and breathed a little easier. Conscious and speaking was good.

"Yeah. You all right?" Ed asked and tried to figure out where exactly they had ended up. The room wasn't giving him much. There were no windows, the walls were white, the door, if there was one, was out of his line of sight and the only light came from a light bulb, dangling from the ceiling directly above him. The brightness bit into his eyes when he looked up, making his head pound harder. 

"I'm fine," Mustang replied. "You?"

"Headache," Ed reported, "But otherwise fine and plotting our escape."

Well, he hadn't started yet but he would get on that any moment now. It took him another moment to realize that his headache felt less like a concussion and more like a hangover. Which probably meant someone had drugged him to get him here and the thought made the vague nausea flare up.

Ed swallowed hard, forcing a deep breath to calm down. Right. Escape plan. But first: "Do you know who took us? And why?"

"No."

All right, so no help there. "Resources?" Ed asked. 

For a moment he could just hear Mustang's breathing, which seemed a little too loud in the silence, then: "I've got a bit of chalk in my sleeve but they tied me well enough that I can't reach it."

"How about that scar on your hand. Does it still work?"

"No, and even if it did, we'd need a spark." His voice sounded clipped, sharp. 

"We've got a light bulb over our head, that's all the spark we need," Ed replied, "But fine, we'll just have to do this the hard way."

Mustang didn't answer and Ed tried to get his head to cooperate. Some thoughts ran quick as lightning while others dragged like he was moving through mud. Escape plan, right.

He needed an array. The chair was metal, so scratching into it wouldn't work. Chalk would do the trick if he got to Mustang's sleeve but that meant getting all the way over there. That left the last option and Ed grimaced, feeling along his nails for the inevitable hangnail, worried at it until he felt wetness, ignoring the stinging pain.

Mustang was still breathing hard. Harder than he should, considering that he had said he was fine. Even more worrying was the lack of banter. They usually couldn't go two minutes without sniping at each other, no matter how dire the situation.

"Mustang, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine, Fullmetal," Mustang replied, "Just get us free."

Ed mentally cursed but he couldn't argue with Mustang and concentrate on drawing an array with blood on a thin chair leg without being able to see what he was doing. 

"They're coming," Mustang said.

"I'm on it," Ed snapped back, drawing the last line. He just hoped he hadn't smudged any of it, took a deep breath and then pressed a blood free finger on it. Alchemy surged through the lines and into the metal beneath, turning it into one solid block, leaving the ropes without anything to tie him to. 

Ed swayed as he got to his feet, shrugged the ropes off and turned to Mustang. With a clap Mustang's chair was turned into another block. 

Mustang stumbled when he came to his feet, white as a sheet and his pupils pinpoint thin. 

"You're really not all right," Ed growled.

A pause and then: "They took my sense-lock cuff."

Ed wanted to curse but caught himself before he could add any more sensory input to the environment. Fuck. They needed to get away but a way out was no use if Mustang was in no condition to flee. 

So keeping Mustang out of a zone would have to be his first priority. Which meant once again acting as Mustang's Guide without being fucking trained for it. 

Okay, so he had practised with Al once he had his body back but not enough to feel secure in trying this out in a life or death situation instead of a calm place where the worst that would happen would be May having to take over before Al slipped too far. 

He wished May was here to anchor Mustang until help arrived. Probably in the form of an angry Al who would have little problem following the trail of his Guide. But May wasn't here and Ed had no choice in the matter unless he wanted to carry Mustang out. Which, no. Not against an undetermined amount of enemies with no idea where he was.

Trying to anchor Mustang it was.

Before their kidnappers turned up.

Okay, at least he had a solution for that one. 

Ed strode to the door, clapped and pulled a solid wall up in front of it, which would hopefully keep them for a while.

That left Mustang. Right. He'd just have to go for the quick and dirty solution. He forced himself to even his breathing and calm his mind to find his connection to the Spirit Plane.

"All right. We can do this. I need you to turn down everything except sight." 

"Doesn't work like that, Fullmetal," Mustang replied. And okay he wasn't wrong, muting some senses usually led to trying to overcompensate with the others, but that wasn't what Ed was going for.

Ed tried to grab for that power but it slid through his fingers like smoke. Not the right mind frame. "Trust me. I can get us out, but I need you walking for that. I can maybe anchor one of your senses, not more."

"You need to be a Guide to do that," Mustang replied and Ed wanted to shake him.

"Who do you think got you out of your zone after hunting the Lead Alchemist?" Ed growled, "Senses down, now!"

For a moment he expected Mustang to keep arguing, but then he closed his eyes a look of concentration on his face.

Ed did the same. Come on, Sasha, he thought, don't leave me hanging.

A muffled rattling from where he had blocked the door nearly threw him off again but he held on, breathed. Reached for that power again. And then Sasha weaved through his legs before stalking up to Mustang. 

Mustang who's eyes were open, staring incredulously at the badger. Sasha bared his teeth in answer.

Ed took a deep breath. All right, he could feel the power, now he just had to anchor Mustang's sight. He took the room in, the level of light, general sense of colors, then carefully nudged the power of the Spirit Plane into that information and pushed it at Mustang as a base line.

He looked at Mustang and raised his brows. "Got it?"

Not that Mustang would hear him with his senses down, but there weren't many other questions that would make sense in this context. 

A moment, then Mustang nodded.

Ed took a breath, kept his focus on what he could see to keep the base line alive.

Then he split his focus, pictured a metal array and formed the remains of the chair into a ladder and leaned it against the wall, climbed up, looked back at Mustang.

He got another nod. 

Ed clapped, made a hole in the ceiling and climbed through. The room was empty. Desks, chairs. Most importantly: a window out into the night.

Mustang came up after him and Ed adjusted the base line to the new room. Less light, more grey and brown. Mustang seemed uneasy but his complexion was better and his pupils back to normal.

Ed took a last look around. No clue who occupied the building, who had kidnapped them. If he'd been alone or Mustang at the top of his game he might have risked staying to snoop around. Like this he wasn't even sure if he could keep Mustang anchored for long enough to get them to safety. 

Speaking off. He walked up to the window and glanced out. A street, only one street light further up. Lighting over the doors of a row of warehouses. Why was it always warehouses?

He had no idea where exactly they were but it didn't matter either. Warehouses meant city and a city meant access to backup. Ed listened. He could hear moving and shouting deeper in the building, probably down by the door he'd blocked but not up here. If they were lucky no-one would realize they were fleeing until it was too late.

Ed opened the window glanced left and right, then climbed out, ready to clap at a moments notice, took in the new environment, new base line.

Mustang touched his shoulder and Ed flinched, concentration wavering.

He breathed. Took in the environment. Base line. 

Mustang looked apologetic but pointed down the street. 

Ed had no better idea, so he crept close along the building wall, looking around for movement.

A few more steps and a car peeled out of the dark and Mustang pointed at it. Ed nodded, looked around one last time. Still no movement from the building they'd left, nor anywhere else. He moved to the door, stepped close so he'd hopefully mask the light of the transmutation then clapped and undid the lock.

Mustang touched his shoulder again, then pointed at himself and the steering wheel. For a second Ed thought about protesting but he wasn't the best driver to begin with, so splitting his focus between the traffic and keeping up the base line for Mustang seemed like a bad idea.

He slid through the bench to the passenger seat, then had to wait for Mustang, who drew an array on the hood of the car, touched it. Under them the car came alive. Right. Fire alchemist and car ignition. Better than Ed trying to figure out which tumblers in the lock to fuse into the on position.

He grinned when Mustang climbed in. Mustang smirked in return. 

And then behind them a shout. 

Ed whirled around, Mustang thankfully took his movement as his cue to accelerate. Ed tensed when he saw a gun raised through the open window. He didn't hesitate, clapped and pulled the car's roof down into a shield behind their seats. 

Shots rang out, hit that barrier but didn't get through. Ed looked forward, cursed when he realized he had let the base line slip, scrambled to get it up again. 

Mustang's white knuckled grip on the steering wheel eased.

Ed breathed as they sped away from the shots. A glance in the side mirror told him no-one was following. Good. He closed his eyes, remembered he had a base line to keep up and opened them again. Right. Fuck. 

His head still pounded.

They needed a phone to get some soldiers to the building and let everyone know they were all right. They needed a new sense-lock cuff for Mustang and then a professional Guide who could get all of his senses back to the right levels.

Around them the streets started to become familiar. Central. They were in Central.

He had no idea where exactly Mustang was driving though, because it was not Central Command. 

And he couldn't ask, because Mustang's hearing was still turned down.

Another street passed, then another. 

And suddenly Ed knew exactly where they were going. Home.

Oh, Mustang was good.

"Al, it's me and Mustang and we need May and a sense-lock cuff," he said, even before Mustang had finished parking the car.

The door opened and Al ran out, nearly yanking the car door off in his haste to throw his arms around Ed.

"Easy, I'm fine," Ed replied but held on just as tightly. "May?"

"Nearly down. She got my old cuff," Al replied and then finally let him go.

Ed looked up, just as May stepped out. She wasn't as tiny as she'd been when they first met and together with the natural aura of a Guide she made an impressive figure.

She gave a nod and a smile to Ed but walked straight up to Mustang.

Ed could see the way Mustang's eyes slipped shut, the way the rest of the tension leaked out of him.

"You held him together until you got here? That's impressive," Al said.

Ed shrugged. "Made him take down all the senses except sight. I don't think impressive is the word you're looking for."

"It is," Al insisted, then shook his head, "Come on, let's get you both off the street."

Ed just nodded. He suddenly felt tired beyond belief.

Al pulled him inside and pushed him down at the table and then a moment later he put a cup of tea in front of him. No coffee. Probably a good idea if Ed wanted to sleep some time this night.

And then Mustang and May walked in. 

"Phone?" Mustang asked. May pointed over to the hall and Mustang vanished, probably to call Hawkeye. 

There was a beat of silence in which Ed slowly sipped his tea, before realizing how thirsty he was, so he got up and got a glass of water too.

"What happened?" Al asked once he sat down again, "All I heard was that you didn't report in after going into the field. And Hawkeye said they already had a Sentinel on your last known location so I should just wait in case you called here."

Ed shook his head. "No idea what happened. My investigation into the chimera sightings led me to that farm just south of the city. Mustang insisted on being backup, but after that it's a blank. Woke up in a building at the edge of the warehouse district. We freed ourselves, stole a car and drove here."

"While the we is flattering I didn't exactly contribute to any of that beside the driving." Mustang stood in the door. "Hawkeye is coming to pick me up, we're going back to where they held us."

Ed nodded. If he went with them, he better get some coffee.

Mustang shook his head as if he had read his mind. "Stay here, Fullmetal, get some sleep. We've got enough backup."

Ed nodded again. He was too tired to argue. 

May vanished into the kitchen and came out a minute later with a coffee and another glass of water for Mustang. 

Right, he was probably just as tired as Ed felt and just as dehydrated.

They sat around the table mostly in silence until Al said Hawkeye was downstairs.

Mustang stood up then stopped at Ed's side. 

"Thank you, Fullmetal."


	3. Chapter 3

They hadn't talked about what had happened, but it seemed that that reprieve was up because here Mustang was, sitting in Ed's home for the second night in a row. The only difference was that Al and May had vanished out the door the second they realized where this was going.

"You're and unregistered Guide. How are you unregistered when your brother is clearly on file?"

"I'm not a fucking Guide, all right!" Ed shot back. 

Mustang raised an eyebrow. 

"I'm not a full Guide," Ed amended with a sigh, "Probably not even half of one."

Ed was pretty sure this was an interrogation, no matter how relaxed Mustang looked when he leaned back in his chair. "I've never heard of full or half Guides."

Ed shrugged. "It's not an official thing."

"Explain it to me," Mustang said, demanded really, but for once Ed wasn't in the mood to be contrary.

"Did you know that while stories of Sentinels go back as far as our history goes, the appearance of fully formed Guides only goes back to Sandburg?"

"They do?"

"Sandburg didn't awaken as a Guide. He learned. He was an anthropology student, dipped his toes into shamanism, Xingese culture and whatever other spiritualistic stuff he could get his hands on. It took years of dedication, some trial and error and access to Ellison to make him the Guide we remember. 

I think he did something so that other Sentinels would have it easier than Ellison. Ever since Sandburg there are people who get all this knowledge and power. I mean cool for them and their Sentinels, I guess, but I wasn't one of those. I did what Sandburg did. I took the long way, asked Granny endless questions, read books and more books. I tried meditation and shit and eventually I met my spirit animal."

"But why?" Mustang asked perplexed.

Ed shrugged. "For Al. He might have needed a Guide eventually. It's good that he found May though, I'm not good enough to keep his senses level."

"You were good enough to keep my senses level."

Ed snorted. "Barely."

"Would you do it again?"

"I wouldn't leave you to zone," Ed replied, "But that doesn't mean you should make losing your sense-lock cuff a habit. I'm really not trained for this shit."

Mustang leaned forward. "Then train with me."

Ed blinked. What? "Why?" 

"Because people are careful with their secrets around a Sentinel with access to a Guide. But you're unregistered."

"They'd think you're harmless," Ed realized, "Get careless if you're lucky, because they wouldn't know about me." He exhaled sharply. From a tactical point of view that made sense. And there was another thought at the back of his mind ever since he'd seen Al with May. 

Maybe, just maybe, if he trained enough, he'd be able to bond to a Sentinel. 

"All right."

* * *

"Okay lets try this," Mustang said.

They were both sitting on the couch facing each other. May was in the house, just in case things got completely out of hand.

Ed breathed, closed his eyes, looked for that spiritual power. He'd asked Granny once how she found it so fast. She'd said it was always there when she reached for it. Ed shook the thought off. He wasn't Granny or May, but he could find that power. He'd just have to work for it.

It took another minute for that sense of the otherworldly to appear and when he carefully reached for it, not directing it yet, just getting a feel for it, a cold nose nudged against his fingers, then Sasha settled down in his lap.

Ed opened his eyes and carefully reached out to the badger, scratching behind his ears. Sasha gave a half hearted snarl but pushed his head into Ed's hand anyway.

When he looked up Mustang was looking at them with a small smile so different from his usual smirk. Ed hesitantly smiled back. 

"That's Sasha."

"Hello Sasha," Mustang said and the badger looked up at him, bared his teeth, then pointedly looked away.

Mustang snorted. "I can see why he's your spirit animal."

"Just what are you implying?" Ed shot back with a glare. 

"Nothing." There was the smirk.

Ed snorted. "You're a shit liar."

"I'm an excellent liar," Mustang said. A beat. "When I want to be."

"Bastard," Ed said but he was aware he sounded more amused than angry.

And when he looked down Sasha was still there, even if his concentration had lapsed. 

Ed took it as a small victory.

"Mine is a fox," Mustang offered and there was that softer smile again. 

"What's his name?"

"Ash."

Ed raised his brows. Of all the fire themed names, he hadn't expected that one but it was none of his business. "Maybe I'll meet him some day."

"Maybe," Mustang agreed.

Ed breathed. He could still feel Sasha's weight in his lap. All right then. "Let's try anchoring."

Roy nodded and took the cuff off.

* * *

Ed took up meditating every evening again, trying to get a better feel for that power, maybe, hopefully find a faster way to access it. As usual the results were a mixed bag. Sometimes Sasha came, sometimes he just got a vague feel of spiritual power. Sometimes he got nothing at all.

* * *

"Hey," Al said poking his head into the room. 

Ed's concentration slipped, his connection to Mustang suddenly insubstantial like smoke and when he scrambled to get the baseline up again it slipped through his fingers. 

Mustang's breath hitched, knuckles going white. 

And then May was there. She didn't even have to say anything, just touched Mustang's shoulder and he relaxed.

"Fuck," Ed muttered, rubbing his face.

"Sorry," Al replied sheepishly, "I just wanted to ask if he's staying for dinner."

Ed looked at Mustang. "Are you?"

Mustang hesitated for a second but then smiled. "I'd love to."

* * *

"Come in, Mustang," Ed said, "I'll find you a towel."

"I hate rain," Mustang replied, slipping out of his soaked coat and boots.

If the sudden weather change hadn't nestled with a deep pain into his automail ports, Ed might have cracked a joke about Mustang being useless in the rain. As it was he was a bit too short tempered to risk their usual banter. 

He looked down, absently massaging his shoulder and his gaze caught on Mustang's socks. It was a surreal sight. Ed had never seen Mustang out of his boots and it suddenly hit home that the man was a person outside the military. He shook it off. Right towel. 

By the time he came back Mustang had sat down on the couch and Ed threw a towel at him. Mustang caught it effortlessly and started to rub his hair dry.

"I'll be right back." He'd need a heat pack if he wanted to get through this without snapping at Mustang. He was a step out before something else occurred. "Hey Mustang, you want a coffee or a tea or something?"

"I'll take a tea," Mustang replied, "And you could start calling me Roy, considering how much time I'm spending here."

"Twice a week is not much," Ed replied amused.

Mustang opened his mouth but Ed was faster. "I see your point and I'll consider it if you stop calling me Fullmetal."

"I can work with that," Mustang - Roy - replied.

Ed nodded and went to get some water boiling.

* * *

Meditation started like it usually did these days. His awareness slowly stretched to reach the otherworldly and eventually Sasha nudged his fingers.

He opened his eyes and then frowned. Sasha stood there, looking directly at him with a stillness Ed had never seen before. 

And then Sasha jumped at him and right into his chest. 

When Ed blinked he was standing in a dark forrest tinted in bluish light. He was only half sure he wasn't dreaming, but usually his dreams weren't lucid. And this matched descriptions of the Spirit Plane.

Ed wasn't actually sure what to do with that. What did one do here? 

He looked around and when nothing caught his eyes he started walking, climbing over roots. Sometimes he caught a glimpse of Sasha, but mostly the forrest remained empty. Just when Ed decided he had enough, that he'd just take a nap here and hope to wake up in the real world, he caught a flash of orange from the corner of his eye. 

He whirled around but it was already gone again.

It was the last thing he remembered before waking up in the morning. 

He still wasn't sure it hadn't been a dream.

* * *

Ed closed his eyes, breathed, reached out. These days it only took about a minute to finally find what he was looking for. A pair of paws settled on his shoulder, the other pair on his head. Ed rolled his eyes at Sasha.

"Has anyone ever told you that it's not actually normal that your spirit animal shows up every single time?" Roy asked.

No-one had. But then again the only Guides he had experience with were May and Granny and Granny had only seen him do this once or twice. As for May... well, Ed had a sneaking suspicion that Xingese Guides had a different outlook on the whole thing. "It's not?"

"It really isn't. Spirit animals show up in the Spirit Plane or occasionally to warn you. Not..." he pointed helplessly at Sasha who was currently climbing down Ed's arm.

"What am I supposed to do with that information?" Ed asked, looking down at Sasha. Sasha huffed and then jumped down the rest of the way.

"I have no idea, just thought I should mention it."

* * *

The Spirit Plane again. And by now Ed was sure it was the Spirit Plane. He still didn't know what to do with that though. May's advice, "You'll know when you need to know," was decidedly unhelpful.

He looked around. Sasha sat on a root, looking at him, before vanishing between the trees. 

Ed followed but by the time he reached where Sasha had last been, the badger was nowhere to be seen. 

Instead he caught a glimpse of orange fur.

* * *

They'd stopped training about half an hour ago, but Roy had yet to get up and leave. Instead he held on to a fresh cup of coffee, one leg curled under himself, socks on his feet.

"I came online in Ishval," Roy said. 

"I suspected as much," Ed replied leaning a little more into his corner of the couch, his own cup of coffee set against his leg like a heat pad.

"Ash saved my life. Hissed at me when I tried to take an alley. It exploded a few seconds later."

Ed didn't know what to say to that so he kept his silence. 

"I saw him two other times, but never again after the war."

Ed thought back to occasional flashes of orange fur. He didn't know what to make of that either.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Ed asked.

Roy nodded. "Even if the anchoring fails, you'll get me out of a zone and stable enough to find May."

Ed nodded. They'd had a pretty good track record lately, Ed's access to the Spirit Plane more stable. Didn't mean he didn't slip, but no matter how worried he was, he also knew Roy was right. 

"All right."

* * *

"If you want to keep what you are a secret you need to learn to hide it," May said, "Because it's starting to show."

"What?"

"I can tell you are a Guide the same way you could never mistake me for anything else. For now only a Guide would realize but eventually it will be obvious to the rest of them too."

"But I'm not a Guide."

"Edward Elric, you were a Guide from the moment you touched the Spirit Plane."

"But I..."

"No but. You taught me everyone can be a Guide. I told my clan. They are learning and maybe one day they may teach it to others. No Sentinel in Xing will ever want for a Guide ever again and that is thanks to you." 

Ed opened his mouth, then closed it again. He hadn't expected that. 

"All right. So how do I hide?"

"I have no words to describe it. Try it and I will tell you if I no longer sense you."

* * *

Try it. Try it, she said. Ed scowled and tried once again to figure out what part of his Guide powers May was even picking up on. 

He'd tried pulling the power deeper inside himself in the hopes of just hiding them there. He'd tried deliberately to disconnect from the Spirit Plane. It was two days later and May could still sense he was a Guide. The worst part was that he wasn't even sure if one of his previous methods would work if he had more training or if he hadn't found the right approach yet. And May wasn't giving him any clues. 

His frustration cost him his clear connection to the spirit powers, turning them into smoke he couldn't grasp. If he couldn't even grasp the power how could May still feel it? Thoroughly annoyed now he tried to push that feeling of the power outward. Try to grasp that.

"Wait, do that again," May said.

"What?"

"What you just did. It worked," May said.

Ed frowned. "That?" He tried once again to push that feeling out where the spirt power faded in his grasp.

"Yes that. I can still tell that there is something there, but I can't get a hold of it, much less tell that it means you're a Guide."

"Welcome to my world," Ed muttered sarcastically, "You couldn't have just told me that's how it works?"

"No I couldn't. Because it's not something born Guides can do. I wasn't even sure it was possible," May replied with a sunny smile, "But now that you know it, you can teach it to me."

Ed stared. Then he threw a pillow at her. 

She dodged. Of course she did.

* * *

Ed watched from the door as Roy vanished into the night. Not for the first time he found himself lingering in the doorway, not yet ready to let that part of the day go, the part he shared with Roy.

He shook his head and turned back inside and then paused again as he caught a glance of Al and May curled together on the couch, each a book in hand, a cup of tea passing between them.

Ed felt that nearly familiar twinge of longing to find something like it himself. Someone to bond to who would get him effortlessly. Who would be as in synch with him as Al and May were. 

For the first time he wondered if it could be Roy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 520 day everyone :)


	4. Chapter 4

Ed looked over to where Roy stood at the bar. They were celebrating one of their biggest victories against the remnants of the old regime they'd had in years. Hakuro was rotting in prison thanks to what Roy had overheard.

"I can feel your longing for him all the way through the room," May said, leaning against the wall next to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, but his gaze was drawn back to Roy who was laughing bright and open, the way he only did among friends. The way he sometimes did when Ed managed to make him laugh. He still came by once a week to train, sometimes stayed for dinner, even if they didn't really have to practise any more. These days, if Ed reached for the power of the Spirit Plane he found it right at his fingertips, just as Granny had once said. 

Only the empathy thing stayed stubbornly out of his reach.

"Yes, you do," May said.

Ed didn't have an answer. Hiding your feelings from a Guide, well a Guide other than him, was an exercise in futility. He was just glad Sentinels couldn't do the same or the jig would have been up by now.

May turned back to take in the room, apparently content to leave it be, now that she'd said her piece and for a while they watched the others make merry in companionable silence.

* * *

The empathy thing. In most cases it wasn't a problem that Ed couldn't do it. It was useful, sure, but not essential and anyway, Roy could read people well enough that it was kind of superfluous.

There was just one reason why Ed wanted to figure it out anyway: Traditionally Guides were the ones who proposed bonding for the very simple reason that with their empathy they could gauge how a Sentinel felt about them and by extension about bonding. That meant it fell to Ed to ask Roy if they could bond. 

Only he couldn't read Roy, had no idea what Roy saw in him, what he would say. And if he asked anyway, what if Roy said yes, but did it out of convenience? Bonding was so much more efficient than anchoring, because anchoring was about providing a base line, while bonding meant becoming the base line. Throw in a light mental connection and they wouldn't even need to be in each others presence for Roy to be able to grounded his senses in Ed. 

Would he lose those precious hours when Roy came by to train? Those hours afterwards when they just talked? A part of him knew that they were friends at the very least and Roy would never go back on that, but the idea lingered.

* * *

"Hey, are you staying for dinner?" May asked, poking her head into the living room.

"Sure," Roy replied and a smile crept on Ed's face.

"Good," Al said, stepping next to May, "It's on the table, don't let it go cold."

Ed frowned. What? Then he caught their smiles. Two identical amused smiles.

"See you later," May said and then walked out. 

"Al?" Ed asked, because he had an idea what this was. He kind of wanted to throttle his brother.

Al's smile softened. "Have fun." And then he too walked out. A few seconds later the front door closed. 

Ed slowly met Roy's gaze. Roy raised a brow at him.

"I'm going to murder him."

Roy snorted. "Come on, let's see what they set up."

Ed rolled his eyes, but let Roy pull him to his feet and then led the way into the kitchen.

The table was set for two and someone (Ed blamed May) had lit candles, some on the table, some on the counter and the window sill. At least there were no flowers or stupid music. No wine, thank fuck, because that stuff was nasty. All in all it could have been worse.

It also could have been better. There was no way they could avoid talking about where this was going, not when Al and May had just very obviously put the topic on the table. 

"Ed?" Roy asked and touched his shoulder. It was only when he relaxed under that touch that he realised how tense he had been, "Are you all right?"

Was he? He couldn't play this off. May was a Guide, so Roy could easily deduce that she wouldn't have planned this if she wasn't sure Ed was interested. That went both ways though. She was a pain in the ass some times, but that didn't mean she'd set this up just to give Roy a chance to turn Ed down. 

He let out a breath. "Sorry. Just not exactly happy that they decided to force my hand."

"I get that," Roy replied and his smile was soft.

Ed squared his shoulders. In the end he'd just have to do what normal people did when they wanted a relationship: Make a leap of faith.

"Well, if we're going to hash this out, at least we can do it over dinner."

Roy's smile widened.

* * *

The food was good. Al and May had gone out of their way and made some of Ed's and Roy's favorites. That Roy had been here often enough that all of them even knew his favorites maybe said something too. 

So yeah, the food was good. It would have been better if Ed hadn't been trying to figure out how to broach the subject. It shouldn't be difficult, but every time he considered just fucking asking, his heart started beating loud enough to drown out his thoughts. 

Roy shot him a glance and fuck, Ed wasn't sure he had ever seen Roy nervous before. He steeled his resolve and met that gaze, even managed a smile. He hoped it came out as a smile at least and not as a nervous grimace. Roy smiled in answer and that was better. 

Ed took a breath. "So was May right?" he asked, "About this," he added, vaguely gesturing between them. He needed some confirmation.

Roy went still but there was an intensity to his gaze as he looked at Ed. "Yes." Simple. None of Roy's usual word games.

"Oh, good," Ed said, slumping down, "Didn't think she was wrong, but..."

"... but thinking and knowing are two different things?" Roy finished.

"Yeah," Ed agreed.

Roy shot him another smile, but it was more relaxed now and kind of made Ed's insides flutter. 

Roy looked around again and then let out a quiet snort. "Maes would have loved this. Probably would have conspired with your brother to set it up." His voice was soft and his smile turned sad, but it was still a smile and not the usual anger that came when Roy remembered that his friend was gone. 

And Ed hadn't known Hughes all that well, but he could totally see it. There would have been some obnoxious prodding in the mix. But what was more important maybe was that Hughes had known Roy, maybe just as well as Al knew Ed and that meant another confirmation of how Roy felt. Not that he didn't trust Roy's words, it was just nice to hear it again.

That only left the question: "So, what now?"

"We enjoy the food," Roy said, "Maybe you'll let me kiss you later."

"I might just kiss you first," Ed replied amused, "But I can get behind the food part."

* * *

"Coffee?" Ed asked, confident that Roy would rightly interpret it as 'Come drink a coffee with me,' instead of 'Want me to make a coffee run?'

Roy looked between him and the stack of paperwork in front of him but then smiled. "Sure."

Ed smirked, ignoring the disapproving gaze Hawkeye sent both of them.

Roy righted his jacket and then fell into step beside Ed, out of the office, down the stairs of Central Command and down the street. 

"You looked like you could use a break," Ed said after a while. Because this wasn't the first time they went for coffee, though usually it was so they could discuss stuff away from the prying ears of the military, where the white noise of bustling people would throw off even a Sentinel. This time though, Ed had no such motive. He just wanted to spend time with Roy. A coffee date, his mind chimed in, sounding suspiciously like Al. Unfortunately his mind wasn't wrong, no matter how stupid that sounded. 

"I really do," Roy sighed steering left around a corner.

A flash of orange fur and bared teeth flying right at Ed. Ed dropped to the ground, pulling Roy with him, before his mind could finish processing what was happening. A deafening crack and suddenly his shoulder was on fire.

Then Roy was pulling him behind a car, glass raining down on them with another bang. Ed grit his teeth and tried to pinpoint where exactly that shot had come from. 

The next second Roy snapped his fingers, light flared. A scream and then silence. Well not exactly silence as the rest of the street was running and screaming too.

The whole thing had taken a hand full of seconds and when he looked around Ash was nowhere in sight. 

"Ed?" Roy's face suddenly in his vision, worried, "You're hurt. Damn, hold still." Ed was holding still, or rather he had been, he couldn't help the flinch when Roy pried away his bloodied coat.

It couldn't be too bad though. Yes, his shoulder was on fire, but he could breathe without problem, he wasn't feeling dizzy or sick or anything and there wasn't nearly enough blood for anything too serious. Probably a graze. Still hurt like hell though. 

"I'm fine," he replied. Mostly he was pissed that someone had taken a shot at him. And if he had moved a second later that shot would have hit his chest, not his shoulder. "Ash saved my life."

"And I'm going to be eternally grateful for it," Roy replied, apparently satisfied with his own inspection of the wound. 

Ed grit his teeth against the pain of moving his arm, then brought his fingers together and transfigured his coat into stripes of cloth, but he wasn't really in the mood to bandage it fully. Shoulders were tricky to begin with and the paramedics would take it off anyway, the second they showed up. Instead he just bunched them up and pressed them on the wound with a hiss.

"Will you be okay sitting here? I need to make sure the shooter can't get away," Roy said, still with so much worry in his gaze. 

"I'll do you one better and come with you, then you don't need to have me out of your sight," Ed replied. 

Roy looked like he was going to protest, but then sighed and stepped back to let Ed get up.

Ed carefully breathed through the pain and let his automail take most of his weight. He'd have to stop pressing on the wound if he wanted to fight, but he still wasn't too dizzy. He could work with this.

"Lead the way." He'd have Roy's back until the commotion finally attracted some backup.

* * *

"I'm not even going to ask," Roy said as he stepped into the room.

Ed frowned, then followed his gaze to the ground where Sasha seemed to be in a stare down with Xiao-Mei.

"Yeah, better not." Not that Ed had any idea what that was about either and if May knew she hadn't told him.

* * *

"Coffee?"

"As long as you don't get shot again," Roy replied.

"I'll do my best," Ed replied.

* * *

"We're always at your place. How about you come to mine and I make us dinner?"

"You can cook?" Ed asked. 

Roy looked insulted, before replacing the expression with a smirk. "I guess you'll have to wait to find out." He raised a brow. "So, dinner?"

Ed rolled his eyes. As if he'd ever say no to that. "Fine."

* * *

Ed closed his eyes and reached for the spirit plane and then for the first time in weeks nearly lost the connection when Roy cursed quietly.

Ed opened his eyes and stared, because there was Sasha, standing comfortably on Roy's shoulder paws on his head, looking unbelievably smug. 

Ed felt his lips twitch up.

"Don't you dare," Roy replied, which Ed took as an invitation to start laughing. 

"You should see the look on your face."

Roy glared, then reached up and plucked Sasha from his shoulder, depositing him in his lap instead. Sasha's nose twitched, but then he seemed to decide the place was good enough and just closed his eyes. 

Ed just laughed harder, another tease already on his lips when he caught sight of Roy's soft expression as he carefully reached out again, carding his fingers through Sasha's fur. 

A shiver worked down Ed's spine, because he could feel that like a dim echo, the tingling sensation of touch, there and gone. 

Roy looked up and smirked.

* * *

"Stay the night?"

Ed felt his heart beat faster and his voice was rough when he answered. "Yeah."

Roy's smile was blinding.

* * *

The Spirit Plane. Ed would never understand how a place that looked so strange could feel like it was perfectly safe. He looked around and caught a glimpse of Sasha. Ed took that at his direction and started to walk, stepped over a rise and then another. 

And froze. 

Sasha was there but he wasn't alone. Next to him lay a fox curled close, their heads only inches apart. Neither of them made any move to acknowledge Ed's presence. 

Ed felt a smile tug at his lips. Maybe it was time to propose bonding after all.

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for the RoyEd month 2020. Day 11: Sentinel/Guide  
> If you spot mistakes they are mine.


End file.
